The title of this episode is what I see as a summary of LOST's theory of time travel. You can't change the past. Things that happened, happened. Let's see how well they hold to that theory.

In other words, Ben's not dead.

My predictions for this episode (beyond the above): We will find out what happened to Aaron (I say she gives him to Claire's mom). We will find out what Sawyer said to Kate on the helicopter (I say it was something about Cassidy and Sawyer's kid). We will find out why Kate got on Ajira 316 (I say because she realized she either missed Sawyer, wanted to stick with Jack, or both).

Just based on the "Previously on LOST" section, my predictions are looking very good.

Ben's not dead yet! And his dad is hitting on Kate. But Kate knows who he is.

That's some ominous looking roof beam action there, as they pull out the ex-burning Dharma VW van. Or not. Red herring, all the way.

Someone else in this series sang the "Catch a Falling Star" song, but I can't remember who it was.

"Sawyer sent me". One point for me!

Wow, Kate told Cassidy everything. That's amazing! And Cassidy figured out the rest, about Aaron. Good for her.

Sawyer figured out who let Sayid out.

So will Jack save Ben a second time? Um, no. Jack says no, because he knows that Ben lives anyway. Or Jack will eventually save him, for one reason or another. I bet Jack saves him. Jack is becoming a convertee to "island think".

Slick "Back to the Future" reference by Hurley. This whole time travel conversation is a nice summary of "Time Travel as LOST sees it".

Well, time actually *is* a straight line for the characters like Miles and Hurley. The point is that their straight line jumps into the empirical (calendar) past. These guys are having trouble with this conversation because they're not sci-fi nerds. But they do raise a good point as to why Ben doesn't (or at least apparently doesn't) remember Sayid. I guess we'll find out. [And we did]

The Others might be able to help Ben. Hmmm. That's interesting. Doesn't anyone else see Juliet and Kate putting Ben in the van? I don't get Kate's "I got you involved in this" statement to Juliet, as it was Juliet's idea.

I think the point of that scene in the grocery store was that the person who found Aaron looked like Claire. We'll see what that means. Kind of what it meant. Cassidy is the wise woman who knows it all.

I guess Jack doesn't towel off when he gets out of the shower. You so don't want to be that guy's roommate. Water all over the floor of the bathroom, like he's filming an ocean movie in there.

The interesting point here is that this episode seems to be actually closing the door on the whole Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Juliet "quadrangle". Is that the case? Don't know.

This whole "Kate and Ms. Littleton and Aaron" thing played out almost exactly like I thought it would. Second point for me!

"His innocence will always be gone". In retrospect, perhaps it wasn't the best decision to have Richard take Ben, because it is part of making Ben who he becomes.

The most interesting line is "You shouldn't do this without asking Elly. And if Charles finds out". That's a huuuuge line there.

And he's taking Ben to the temple. Where Smokey lives.

Locke! Of course that's the end of the episode.

Looks like my earlier prediction of what episodes would be about was correct: the Kate episode, the Ben episode. Later, we should get the Faraday episode (with touches of Miles).

Summary: An interesting episode, more for what it sets up than what it reveals. Kate goes back to the island for Claire, but I'm not sure I really saw the full process of the decision. Cassidy was definitely an interesting character, but she was also the standard "wise woman" role. I get credit for naming all three questions that were answered, and for at least two of the three answers. Yay Me!

The whole Hurley/Miles repartee was very entertaining. They can pretty much buddy Hurley up with anybody and it turns out well. It seems Faraday has drilled the whole time thing into everyone's head, but yes, I would like to see where he is at.

>> The interesting point here is that this episode seems to be actually closing the door on the whole Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Juliet "quadrangle". Is that the case? Don't know. <<

It seems so and I like where it seems to be ending up. Sawyer and Juliet staying together.

I was mixed about the fate of Aaron. I'm relieved that he is safe and not a pawn in the Charles/Ben war, but I was also dissappointed that he won't make it back to Claire on the island. Maybe. Kate's previously distraught "Never ask me about Aaron again" seemed a bit dramatic now in retrospect.

But the best thing is that I can't wait until next week to see the Ben flashback and learn the fate of Penny.

I agree "Never ask me about him again" seems over-dramatic. I can kind of buy it, but it's a stretch. That said, I love that Kate goes back to the island to find Claire, not Sawyer. This also works for me in the season's earlier flash, where Sawyer saw Kate helping deliver Aaron. That was a powerful scene.

I don't know if the quadrangle's really being closed out, though. Both Sawyer and Kate have matured quite a bit, it seems. I like Sawyer and Juliet, but I don't think it will last :(

And Hurley needs his own show after Lost finishes. And he needs cameos with all the characters from Lost on it.

I loved that in their conversation, LOST is telling us "these questions about time-travel you're having, they're the right questions. And we will answer them." (Although I'm not sure if Richard's answer is really the definitive one.)

And Yeff, Hurley loves Back to the Future and Y the Last Man. He's a definite geek :)

Dang, you're right. Killing Alex might have been the hardest, cruelest thing in this whole series. And there's been a lot of death and mayhem in LOST.

Hurley Team Ups! I think that's worth an email to Damon and Carlton...

Agree on the "Hot!". Also, I forgot that I'm ticked at Kate for apparently taking credit for Juliet's idea to take Ben to the Others. Juliet has the idea, then at the van Kate acts like it's *her* idea. Sheesh...

Agreed. It's three years later. The quadrangle is hopefully dead. And it looks like Sawyer (hopefully) and Jack (possibly) are worn down on Kate. Jack's "you didn't like the old Jack either" comment was quite fun, in that respect.

Someone made the good point that "taking Aaron away from the only mother he ever knew, and give him to a stranger is pretty cruel". I did like how it affected Kate's decision to go back, though the final spur (lose Aaron, Claire-like person briefly has him) was a little "first draft storyline"-esque.

Next week should be seriously thick. Penny can not die. That would be unspeakably awful on the part of the show to do something like that. Especially because of the baby. But then again, they've taken mothers away from babies in the past (Ben, Claire, ...)

Speaking of "time," I like that some of the characters are choosing to live in the moment. Juliet and Kate would rather save Ben in the current moment, although they know who he will become. Sawyer goes this route as well, but does it for Juliet. I'm not sure why I find this interesting. Perhaps it's the concept of living in the moment.

Also, in the mythology of Lost, choosing your own actions (or free will) are important. Maybe even important to the Island.

I see it as some of a weird blend of free-will and anti-free-will: "I'm doing what I think is right because if things are going to end up the way they end up, at least I did what I thought was right, and if they change then what I thought was right would help."

It's a very intriguing way to look at some of the time-travel effects.

I just hope they stick with "Whatever happened, happened" because it's producing some interesting after-effects.